How to Prune a Majesty Palm

Majesty palms are beautiful plants, but because they love humidity and warmth, it can be challenging to grow a majesty palm indoors and in cooler climates. Many majesty palm owners are confused about when and how to prune the tree. Here are a few tips to help you decide when and where to prune a majesty palm.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pruning shears or scissors

1. Examine your majesty palm to find fronds with many dead leaves. While it is not necessary to prune these fronds, consider pruning them to improve the appearance of the plant and to help the plant focus energy on growing new, healthy fronds.

2. Identify old fronds that are dying, leaning over or beginning to break away from the plant. Consider pruning these fronds to improve the symmetry of the plant and help the plant focus on new growth.

3. Examine the plant to ensure that it is symmetrical, sturdy and attractive when the fronds are removed. If you remove too many fronds from one side of a large majesty palm, it can disrupt the balance of the plant and cause it to fall or break.

4. Prune the selected fronds about 2 to 3 inches from the main trunk using sharp pruning shears or scissors. Make the cut as clean and straight as possible.

Tips & Warnings

• Dry, brown leaves are often caused by under-watering or low humidity. Yellow leaves are usually caused by over-watering.
• It is always best to remove an entire frond when pruning a majesty palm. Cutting only the brown leaves from the frond will stress the frond and cause more leaves to brown.
• Always clean pruning shears before and after use to prevent spreading disease between plants.